Straight Lesbians Want Their Identity Back

Natives Of Greek Island Of Lesbos Want Gay Group To Stop Using The Word InTheir Title

(AP)  A Greek court has been asked to draw the line between the natives of the Aegean Sea island of Lesbos and the world's gay women.

Three islanders from Lesbos - home of the ancient poet Sappho, who praised love between women - have taken a gay rights group to court for using the word lesbian in its name.

One of the plaintiffs said Wednesday that the name of the association, Homosexual and Lesbian Community of Greece, "insults the identity" of the people of Lesbos, who are also known as Lesbians.

"My sister can't say she is a Lesbian," said Dimitris Lambrou. "Our geographical designation has been usurped by certain ladies who have no connection whatsoever with Lesbos," he said.

The three plaintiffs are seeking to have the group barred from using "lesbian" in its name and filed a lawsuit on April 10. The other two plaintiffs are women.

Also called Mytilene, after its capital, Lesbos is famed as the birthplace of Sappho. The island is a favored holiday destination for gay women, particularly the lyric poet's reputed home town of Eressos.

"This is not an aggressive act against gay women," Lambrou said. "Let them visit Lesbos and get married and whatever they like. We just want (the group) to remove the word lesbian from their title."

He said the plaintiffs targeted the group because it is the only officially registered gay group in Greece to use the word lesbian in its name. The case will be heard in an Athens court on June 10.

Sappho lived from the late 7th to the early 6th century B.C. and is considered one of the greatest poets of antiquity. Many of her poems, written in the first person and intended to be accompanied by music, contain passionate references to love for other women.

Lambrou said the word lesbian has only been linked with gay women in the past few decades. "But we have been Lesbians for thousands of years," said Lambrou, who publishes a small magazine on ancient Greek religion and technology that frequently criticizes the Christian Church.

Very little is known of Sappho's life. According to some ancient accounts, she was an aristocrat who married a rich merchant and had a daughter with him. One tradition says that she killed herself by jumping off a cliff over an unhappy love affair.

Lambrou says Sappho was not gay. "But even if we assume she was, how can 250,000 people of Lesbian descent - including women - be considered homosexual?"

The Homosexual and Lesbian Community of Greece could not be reached for comment.

[olebd]

Before I vacation there, which celebrity do they most resemble? Also, do they allow cameras?

[demslie]

Its all Bush''s Fault

[honestabe8]

dragonwagon: yeah, all the houses there are tongue-in-groove construction.

[honestabe8]

drmaqazi: you seem to be posting the same thing frequently. what have you against lesbians? personally, some of my favorite movies prominently featured them.

[yongamerica]

from Kosher law evolved Shari law. All of this is ancient attempts to control the masses and viewed solely as a means for a priest to control a political realm.

[enlightenu]

Its all Bush''''s Fault

Posted by demslie at 01:11 PM : Apr 30, 2008

Actually this time its Cheney''s fault for calling his daughter a lesbian

[mbcsmith]

yep, right next to the isle of ***.

[mbcsmith]

***, lesbos, KD lang just checking to see what CBS censors

[b-easy63]

This is what happens when people appropriate names that have a different meaning from other cultures.

Why can''t homosexual people be called homosexual or make up their own name instead of corrupting another name?

"Fairy" used to mean a small creature originally part of the Fae or sidhe--a group of imaginary magical beings.

"***" is a british slang for a cigarette and was that long before it was appropriated as a slur on male homosexuals

"gay" was a word that used to mean happy or full of life and only became a byword for male homosexuals in the latter part of the 20th century.

"*********" is a bundle of sticks, often held together and used for burning .

And "Lesbian" is actually a name of persons from the isles of Lesbos--not the name for women appropriating the idea of one of the inhabitants of Lesbos.

So why not? Why not come up with their own name for their group and stay away from the names from other cultures? At what point does one groups newly found freedoms begin to impinge on the freedoms of an already established group? Let the newcomers find their own place, not squat on the linguistics of others--there would be a lot less confusion and rancour.

[honestabe8]

b-easy: i would suspect that most of those names were foisted upon ***/lesbians rather than them appropriating them on their own

[honestabe8]

dragonwagon: until you take your finger out of one of them, then all hell breaks loose

[briannorwood]

Per Wikipedia...

The word lesbian dates back at least to 1732 and lesbianism appears in the 1870 Oxford English Dictionary meaning sexual orientation rather than a reference to Sappho and inhabitants of Lesbos. Lesbian as an adjective is in the 1890 Oxford English Dictionary and as a noun by 1925. Until the early twentieth century lesbian was interchangeable with Sapphist.[3]

[hungry1968]

***, lesbos, KD lang just checking to see what CBS censors

Posted by mbcsmith at 01:45 PM : Apr 30, 2008



I''m all for free speech, but I wouldn''t mind a bit if they censored ''mbcsmith''.

[cbsguest6]

I don''t even know how I would solve this dilemma!

[jetlizhan]

this is ridiculous beyond words.

[cbsguest6]

This perplexes my mind beyond belief!

[honestabe8]

dragonwagon: mmmm...taco.

[cbsguest6]

This is like one of those unsolvable puzzles!

[cbsguest6]

No matter which answer I chose it seems to be the wrong answer!

[unclawdog]

great post rafterman1!!

[massenga]

"Why can''''t homosexual people be called homosexual or make up their own name instead of corrupting another name?"

Why can''t god-squad fundamentalists be called theocrats and bigots instead of corrupting the name "Christian" that belongs to Catholics, mainline Protestants, and others who might actually try to behave in a Christlike way rather than bludgeon others with misinterpreted biblical quotes?

[tmn]

Thespians had better watch their backs if the citizens of Thespos read this article!

[nlm2383]

Take your bible thumping elsewhere drmaqazi... It was written by man and it''s all a matter of personal opinion. Just because you are homophobic doesn''t mean everyone is.

[tmn]

and while we''re at it, citizens of the Isle of Crete aren'' t exactly thrilled with idiots being referred to as "cretans"

[olebd]

Life was better when gay meant happy.

[nlm2383]

I would LOVE for you to explain how I''m bigoted waterbaby...Please, enlighten me.

[mike71067]

"Straight Lesbians Want Their Identity Back"
***???


Anyway, it''s great to see the posts here when there''s a story about sodomites. I''m seeing all the liberal buzzwords - "homophobe (as if anyone is afraid of them), hater (as if these weirdos are worth hating), and "bible thumper" (as if you have to be religious to understand that homosexxuality is unnatural and immoral).

[nlm2383]

Nlm2383,

Why don''''t you take your bigoted and hateful opinions elsewhere? Just a thought.


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Posted by waterbaby at 03:31 PM : Apr 30, 2008

Seeing as how drmaqazi posted the quotes from the man written bible, I would have to say that they would be the bigot since they are obivously intolerant to the g*y lifestyle. And it looks like you would also fit in that catagory since you are obivously against me giving my opinion and refusing to have religious beliefs forced upon me.

[ajaxtheleast]

Straight lesbians want their idenTITY back.

LET''S CHECK! MAYBE THEY''RE AUTIONING
OFF THE OTHER ONE!

[mike71067]

If, as they insist, homosexxuals are "born that way", then every year we''d have less, not more of them, since they cannot reproduce.

Aside from the "turkey baster"-type pregnancies, and that man who became famous last week for being 6 months pregnant. It was real fun trying to explain that one to my 6-year old during the news.

[simonsez40]

Aside from the "turkey baster"-type pregnancies, and that man who became famous last week for being 6 months pregnant. It was real fun trying to explain that one to my 6-year old during the news.


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Posted by mike71067 at 03:44 PM : Apr 30, 2008

Hey MORON then you can explain to your 6-year old that straight folk HAVE babies that turn out to be gay - so if you want to get rid of the alternative folk then tell your straight folk to quit having gay babies!

[nlm2383]

Anyway, it''''s great to see the posts here when there''''s a story about sodomites. I''''m seeing all the liberal buzzwords - "homophobe (as if anyone is afraid of them), hater (as if these weirdos are worth hating), and "bible thumper" (as if you have to be religious to understand that homosexxuality is unnatural and immoral).


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Posted by mike71067 at 03:33 PM : Apr 30, 2008

"A phobia is an irrational, intense, persistent fear of certain situations, activities, things, or persons." Exactly... irrational fear of a homose*ual. For some reason people like you get it in their head that it''s a choice to be g*y and that if you were in a room with a g*y man, he might make a move on you. It''s a matter of opinion that homose*uality is "unnatural and immoral". Religion can TELL you whatever they want, but the ones telling you are the biggest hipocrits when they obivously don''t practice what they preach.

[simonsez40]

Gay people are creations of God and are here for a purpose - just as there are homosexual creatures in nature - there is in humanity as well. From ancient times *** and lesbians have existed - in Greek times, in biblical times and right here and right now. Throw away your soapbox and educate your ignorant self..........

Hmmmmmmmmmm let''s see how many STRAIGHT WHITE MALES are serial killers and pedophiles - oh something like 95%........straight males........lmao!

[nlm2383]

Aside from the "turkey baster"-type pregnancies, and that man who became famous last week for being 6 months pregnant. It was real fun trying to explain that one to my 6-year old during the news.


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Posted by mike71067 at 03:44 PM : Apr 30, 2008

It cannot be that hard to explain that it''s not really a man, but a woman who wants to be a man and only looks like one.

[simonsez40]

It cannot be that hard to explain that it''''s not really a man, but a woman who wants to be a man and only looks like one.


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Posted by nlm2383

Hey moron I know lots of gay women that don''t look like men........Portia di Rossi............Marlene Dietrich, Greta Garbo......do you want me to go on?

[bgwinnett]

Do they happen to be from the Greek Isle of Lesbos?

[simonsez40]

I''m sure we are all descendants of the Greek Isles in some form - DNA can determine that now-a-days.....

[simonsez40]

Dragon - it''s not a catfight it''s called educating the stupidity that runs rampant in everyday America!

[nlm2383]

nlm, sounds like you''''re just as bigoted, hateful -- and most importantly -- hypocritical- as anyone else. Way to talk out of both sides of your mouth.


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Posted by waterbaby at 03:46 PM : Apr 30, 2008

I''m just glad to see you are keeping up with my posts and taking the time to read them. Hopefully one day you will understand what it''s like to not hate someone based on their se*ual preference. There''s nothing abnormal about it and you would learn that if you took the time to get to know a g*y man or woman. Sadly enough, I have a feeling you would be the type of person to shun your own child if they were g*y and not take the time to maybe accept them as they are. I''ve got better things to do than try to talk some sense into morons...

[simonsez40]

Posted by nlm2383

Amen! Ignorance begats ignorance - people hate what they know NOTHING about out of fear!

[smiley676]

I understand the Lesbos women''s issue with saying "hi, I''m a Lesbian," but why can''t they say "hi, I''m a Lesbosian?"

[simonsez40]

The Bible contains six admonishments to homosexuals and 362 admonishments to heterosexuals. That doesn''t mean that God doesn''t love heterosexuals. It''s just that they need more supervision. ~Lynn Lavner

[justsane-2009]

simonsez40--- col (chuckling out loud) :)

[simonsez40]

People who can''t think of anything else but whether the person you love is indented or convex should be doomed not to think of anything else but that, and so miss the other ninety-five percent of life.

[dinodavid220]

LOL.......LMAO.......THIS IS SOOOOOOOO FUNNY

[simonsez40]

If you removed all of the homosexuals and homosexual influence from what is generally regarded as American culture, you would pretty much be left with "Let''s Make a Deal."

[gurusavant]

oh please! the world is full of straight people claiming everything for themselves...except overpopulation. why harass lesbians for identifying with this island?

[simonsez40]

To all those that use the bible to preach hate!

A professor is treating her husband, a loan officer, to dinner for finally giving in to her pleas to shave off the scraggly beard he grew on vacation.

His favorite restaurant is a place where they both feel comfortable in slacks and cotton/polyester-blend golf shirts. As always, she wears the gold and pearl pendant he gave her the day her divorce decree was final. They''re laughing over their menus because he always ends up diving into a giant plate of ribs but she won''t be talked into anything more fattening than shrimp.
Quiz: How many biblical prohibitions are they violating? Well, wives are supposed to be ''submissive'' to their husbands (I Peter 3:1). And all women are forbidden to teach men (I Timothy 2:12), wear gold or pearls (I Timothy 2:9) or dress in clothing that ''pertains to a man'' (Deuteronomy 22:5). Shellfish and pork are definitely out (Leviticus 11:7, 10) as are usury (Deuteronomy 23:19), shaving (Leviticus 19:27) and clothes of more than one fabric (Leviticus 19:19). And since the Bible rarely recognizes divorce, they''re committing adultery, which carries the rather harsh penalty of death by stoning (Deuteronomy 22:22).
So why are they having such a good time? Probably because they wouldn''t think of worrying about rules that seem absurd. Yet this same modern-day couple could easily be among the millions of Americans who never hesitate to lean on the Bible to justify their own anti-gay attitudes.

[nlm2383]

Amen! Ignorance begats ignorance - people hate what they know NOTHING about out of fear!

------

Including religion. What a bunch of hypocrites you all are.


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Posted by waterbaby at 03:57 PM : Apr 30, 2008

I know PLENTY about religion. Which is why I am not religious and never will be again...

[p-syrus]

Just a bunch of greek men who don''t like being ridiculed as "lesbians". It offends their masculinity.

And what could be more "masculine" than "greek"? ;-)